00:00:00
[Music] Hello 911. Do you have an emergency? >> There's a house that's on fire on the
00:00:17
other side of the fence. There's fire coming out of the window. I think I heard screaming and crying. I don't
00:00:22
know. >> Did it sound like it was coming from the resident? >> Yeah, I think so.
00:00:28
The lead detective called me. He said, "Um, there was an accident in your parents house
00:00:37
and he said, there was a fire. Your parents didn't didn't make it." I just started hysterically crying.
00:00:46
So, I flew up on the first flight um out the next day and that's when they told us um what had really happened. The fire
00:00:55
wasn't an accident. My parents had been shot and the fire was a cover. >> How, why, and who?
00:01:03
>> Neighbors on this usually quiet street are stunned. >> It's not real. I wanted to know why this
00:01:09
happened to Scott and Janet. I wanted to know who did this. They were great people. They were giving people and it's
00:01:18
not the way it's supposed to go. Did your parents have any kind of conflict with people that might want to
00:01:25
hurt them? >> Not that I'm aware of. No. >> It didn't make sense that this could or
00:01:31
would happen. >> How soon did investigators focus on Brandon Pettit as the killer?
00:01:39
>> Instantly, they focused on Brandon as soon as one of the neighbors said, "Oh,
00:01:43
they have a son. That's weird." >> Is there any physical evidence that ties your brother to the murder?
00:01:48
>> No. There is no DNA. There are no fingerprints. There is no blood. But what you do have here is a litany of
00:01:56
statements and actions that point to Brandon. >> The most damaging evidence against
00:02:03
Brandon came out of his own mouth. He's terrible. Um, in his ability to figure out what's appropriate.
00:02:10
>> He referred to his parents as that he wanted his dad dead. I mean, and this is like just a few weeks before the
00:02:17
murder. You have more than once before your parents. I said, "I wish my parents were dead."
00:02:25
>> A lot of people said that about their parents. >> It's clear that your brother isn't like
00:02:29
everyone else, isn't it? >> Mhm. >> He told them he had asberers. >> When somebody's autistic, they're
00:02:36
different than you. He's doesn't act the same way as you or I might act. >> Here's your dad laying on a body bag.
00:02:43
And you know what? You're already past it. >> I'm not past it. He had no emotional
00:02:48
response. You wanted me to break down and cry because I don't normally cry. >> Autism is the reason I focused on him.
00:02:57
It's the reason that they became convinced that he was guilty. >> I don't know who killed my parents. No,
00:03:04
I don't. No. Yes. No. >> Your brother was working that night, right? He has an alibi.
00:03:11
>> Yeah. >> You murdered your parents. I didn't do anything. >> He intended it. He desired it and he did
00:03:17
it. >> I think there's a lot more to this story. >> I loved my parents. >> Words don't make you a murderer.
00:03:27
[Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] The morning of August 8th, 2013 had started out full of promise for then
00:04:19
28-year-old Lauren Pettit living in Los Angeles. >> I remember I had texted one of my best
00:04:25
friends that morning. Today's going to be a good day. >> What's your birthday? What she didn't know was that 300 miles
00:04:33
away in Modesto, California, firefighters have been called to her parents' home at 3:00 in the morning.
00:04:39
Their bedroom had gone up in flames. >> Fire crew is still trying to determine where that fire started. We were told
00:04:46
that three investigators are on scene. >> Lauren's parents, Scott and Janet Pettit, were found dead inside.
00:04:54
How would you describe your mom and dad? You really miss them, don't you? >> They were amazing.
00:05:04
[Music] >> Two of the family's dogs also didn't make it, but one, Bailey, survived. Is
00:05:15
it kind of a miracle she's even here? >> It's insane. Mhm. >> Bailey means a lot to you now.
00:05:21
>> Everything. She's like my lifeline. [Music] Mike Anderson, a close friend of the
00:05:30
family, had arrived at the scene after getting a call that something terrible had happened. When I turned on to Scott
00:05:37
and Janet Street, there was fire trucks, ambulances, and so my heart sank. [Music]
00:05:49
Let's say it's like losing an arm or something. you lose a part of your soul, a part of your body, and that's what it
00:05:55
felt like. This can't be happening. But it was, and things only got worse. Investigators
00:06:06
soon determined the fire was no accident. Scott and Janet had been shot a total of seven times, and evidence of
00:06:14
an accelerant was found throughout their upstairs room. More than 12 hours after
00:06:20
firefighters made the gruesome discovery, police investigators remain sifting through clues in what they are
00:06:26
now calling a pair of suspicious deaths. >> The community lost two people that did more for their
00:06:36
communities than hundreds of people will ever do. Scott was an avid car collector and
00:06:45
owner of a martial arts studio in nearby Riverbank. The local paper once called him citizen of the year. Janet, a
00:06:53
neonatal nurse, had recently earned her PhD. [Music] When you think about your mom, what
00:07:04
comes to mind? >> She was just incredible. You know, very caring and selfless. My dad was very
00:07:09
sarcastic, very witty, loved to give back, loved to help everyone. >> The couple had been in their late 20s
00:07:16
when they first met. Scott was working as a paramedic then. >> I believe the story is he was bringing a
00:07:23
baby in from the ambulance and she was the receiving one of the receiving nurses.
00:07:30
>> The two would later marry and start a family. Lauren was 2 years old when her
00:07:35
brother Brandon was born and the family was complete. >> Your mom writes, "Len was so excited to
00:07:42
have her baby brother home. You do look very happy to have a little brother. >> First kiss from a big sister."
00:07:51
>> I think I thought I had a new toy. Growing up, Lauren says Brandon loved playing pranks on people. But when it
00:08:03
came to career aspirations, that was something he was serious about. What did he want to do?
00:08:10
>> He really enjoyed like firefighting, I guess, just like helping people in some way, shape, or form, like police
00:08:16
force, things like that. >> She says Brandon was smart but struggled socially. Do you remember how old you were when
00:08:25
you noticed any difference with Brandon? When you started realizing that he wasn't quite like everybody else's
00:08:32
little brother? >> Early childhood? Definitely. I was under the age of 10 for sure. Maybe like
00:08:37
sevenish. >> What do you think you first noticed? >> Um him being really stubborn and
00:08:42
disobedient in a sense. >> And she says he had trouble making friends. >> You know, he was almost looked down upon
00:08:49
or looked looked at as if he just didn't fit in and that was hard. >> Was he lonely?
00:08:56
>> I'm sure. >> So lonely, says Lauren, that he would tell stories and make things up just to
00:09:03
get attention. >> I don't think he ever thought that he was telling a story or lying. It was
00:09:08
just, you know, I can do this or I can do that or, you know, I can get this and like, okay, let's come back down to
00:09:14
earth and like, let's figure out whether or not it's reality. >> Scott and Janet had long been aware of
00:09:20
Brandon's struggles. They took him to see numerous specialists. And when Brandon was in high school, he was
00:09:27
diagnosed with Asperers, a developmental disorder affecting his ability to communicate and at times read social
00:09:35
cues. Now, Asperers falls under autism spectrum disorder. with Asperers. I think it's really difficult for him to
00:09:45
be aware of how he's presenting himself and what he's saying and how he's saying
00:09:49
things and how he's reacting to certain things or not reacting and whether or not he's doing what people would
00:09:54
consider the norm. >> So, when Lauren called Brandon, then 25, shortly after they both learned of their
00:10:01
parents' deaths, his unusual reaction, she says, was usual for him. How is he dealing with it
00:10:10
>> in his normal manner, which is, you know, very emotionless when he's sad? Kind of just keeps it all in.
00:10:19
>> But it was a red flag to police, who soon zeroed in on Brandon the day after the murders, before Lauren even got to
00:10:27
see him. Brandon ended up in a police interrogation room for 9 and 1/2 hours. >> And he went along with it.
00:10:36
>> Mhm. And why do you think he was so willing to talk to the police? >> Probably the same reason I was. Like
00:10:41
just wanting answers. >> Brandon was again called in for questioning just over a week after the
00:10:49
murders. Lauren drove him to the station. Did the investigators give you any idea that your brother was a
00:10:56
suspect? >> He was by them, wasn't he? >> Mhm. If you had known what was going on,
00:11:02
if you had any idea your brother was a suspect, would you have taken him over there so willingly?
00:11:07
>> I wouldn't have taken him there, period. We would have had an attorney. >> After nearly 4 hours, police arrested
00:11:16
Brandon for the murder of his parents. >> I think I lost my voice and my breath for a little bit. I was like, "What?
00:11:27
Why? [Music] Just over a week after suddenly losing her parents, Lauren now had to deal with
00:11:47
the news that her brother had been arrested and charged with the murders. >> I think I just started to hyperventilate
00:11:53
and was like, I don't even know what's going on. In addition to Brandon, a man named
00:11:58
Felix Valver had also been arrested and charged. Lauren had never heard of Felix
00:12:04
Valverde, but Brandon and Felix were both members of a group called the Clampers, a more than century old
00:12:11
fraternal organization dedicated to the historical preservation of the American West. But Clampers are also known for
00:12:20
enjoying getting together to drink. I think his the only reason he was a part of that was because he thought they
00:12:27
he thought he would have friends. >> Did your parents ever express concern about any of these people that your
00:12:35
brother might be hanging out with? >> Mm-m. I never heard about them. >> Brandon was staying at his parents
00:12:41
house, but on the night of the fire, he was out working the graveyard shift as a
00:12:46
security guard. And there are people who can say he was there. >> Yep. He has an alibi. boss or his
00:12:53
superior confirmed he was there. >> But his alibi didn't seem to matter to investigators. They believed that
00:13:00
Brandon paid Felix to commit the murders. The alleged motive to inherit his parents' money. But Lauren couldn't
00:13:09
make sense of it. She says Brandon loved their parents and actually benefited more with their parents alive.
00:13:17
>> They paid his bills. My brother didn't even know the value of a dollar. >> If anything happened to your parents,
00:13:23
was your brother going to inherit anything? >> Not that he knew of. Not that I know of
00:13:28
either. >> Police first began looking at Felix after Brandon in his first interview
00:13:36
with police mentioned other friends, but curiously failed to mention Felix. That
00:13:43
led to a search of Felix's apartment, where their suspicions paid off. They found keys to the pet at home, Scott and
00:13:52
Janet's wallets, a box of ammunition, and seven spent shell casings concealed in a planter outside. Significant
00:14:02
because Brandon's parents were shot a total of seven times. Hours later, police called Brandon in for that second
00:14:11
taped interview and confronted him. >> How would he come up with the key and kill your parents? I don't know. Do I
00:14:19
Who gave them to him? I didn't give him. >> But the detective told Brandon that Felix was telling a different story.
00:14:27
>> Felix says she gave me keys. And the keys both fit the garage door and the front door. Brandon, if you think for a
00:14:36
minute that anybody anybody is going to believe your story, including your sister, you're mistaken. And you know
00:14:43
what the thing about Felix is in your life? It makes him more believable. >> He's remorseful.
00:14:50
>> I mean remorseful. >> How does that mean? Sorry. >> The detective also told Brandon that he
00:14:58
had phone records showing that Brandon and Felix spoke the night of the murders.
00:15:05
>> On my break, I was asking him what we're doing for the weekend. Despite the pressure, Brandon repeatedly
00:15:12
denied having anything to do with the deaths of his parents. >> I don't know who killed my parents. No,
00:15:19
I don't. >> No. Yes. No. >> But in that second interview, Brandon made incriminating admissions. Brandon
00:15:29
said that he gave Felix bullets sometime in the weeks leading up to the murders.
00:15:35
He had asked me for the box of bullets that I had because my .22 hasn't been fired in two years because I don't have
00:15:41
a bolt for it. >> And he admitted giving Felix $100 just days after the murders.
00:15:49
[Music] But the most jaw-dropping part of Brandon's story was when he told detectives that about a month before the
00:15:59
fire, Felix had threatened to kill Brandon's parents unless Brandon paid him $10,000.
00:16:07
>> And you haven't told us something that is this important and you're telling us
00:16:12
now? >> I remember in a while. >> You know what? And where'd you go? Did you go to the
00:16:18
police station? >> No. to my parents hallway. >> Oh no. >> Instead, you give a box of bullets.
00:16:27
>> I can see that was a bad idea. >> That was a bad idea. That's a bad excuse. That's an even worse lie.
00:16:34
>> Even if it was the truth, why would Brandon wait 9 days after the murders to tell them all of this?
00:16:41
>> Why? I didn't want to talk to anybody. Did you not want to solve that crime? I
00:16:46
wanted to do it myself. Oh, wow. There's a new one. What did you do? >> I wanted to find out who did it myself.
00:16:53
>> And more damaging, why did Brandon remain friendly with Felix? Not only after the threat was made, but even
00:17:01
after Brandon's parents wound up dead. >> So, he tells you, he's going to kill his
00:17:06
parents. You give him ammunition and then you give him a hundred bucks. He said he had paid his bills and needed
00:17:13
some money. I had a hundred bucks, so I figured I'd help him out. until he got paid. To the guy that just was
00:17:20
threatening to kill with your parents if you didn't pay him money. You're helping
00:17:24
him out. Matter of fact, you're hanging out with him afterwards. All buddy buddy.
00:17:28
>> I didn't believe he would actually do it. >> Investigators were convinced that
00:17:34
Brandon was the mastermind behind his parents' deaths. But Martha Carlton Magna, an attorney appointed to
00:17:41
represent Brandon after his arrest, says the interview proves nothing. >> He didn't have anything to do with it.
00:17:49
He doesn't know what happened. >> She says detectives weren't interested in the truth and they lied to Brandon
00:17:55
when they told him that Felix had already confessed. They've already decided he's the suspect
00:18:02
and they're really trying to feed him a lot of information so that he'll regurgitate it back.
00:18:08
>> She says the detectives knew Brandon had Asberers >> in this whole Asberger thing. I'm not
00:18:13
buying any >> and suggests they mishandled the interview. >> Do you believe they were taking
00:18:20
advantage of his condition? I think they were doing what they always do and because of Brandon's condition, he was
00:18:26
more uh vulnerable to that kind of interrogation. Everything in that second interview needs to be taken with a grain
00:18:32
of salt. >> Lauren agrees and firmly believes her brother's innocent. >> He really is a good person.
00:18:40
>> Does this seem at all in your brother's character to have your parents killed?
00:18:45
>> Not at all. [Music] But Brandon's statements in that interview wouldn't be the only hurdle
00:18:52
that his defense would have to overcome. A young woman by the name of Sarah Wilson had surfaced. In the weeks
00:19:00
leading up to the murder, she says Brandon had been promising her the world, things that only money could buy.
00:19:12
[Music] [Music] Sarah Wilson and Brandon Pettit met when they were in high school, but Sarah says
00:19:30
they reconnected online in the summer of 2013, shortly before the murders. >> We got to talking, seeing how we were
00:19:38
doing throughout the years. >> Brandon had just gone through a messy breakup with a woman named Susan
00:19:45
Sanchez. Susan was pregnant with Brandon's child. >> How did your brother feel about becoming
00:19:52
a dad? >> Very excited. My family was everything to him. So, >> but with his relationship with Susan
00:19:58
over, Brandon was apparently ready to shift his attention to someone new. >> I had some inclinations that he had a
00:20:07
little crush on me, but I didn't pursue anything with them. I didn't give him any hints that I was attracted to him in
00:20:14
that way. That didn't seem to deter Brandon, who ended up making her an offer she
00:20:21
says she couldn't refuse. >> He had mentioned that his parents were going to buy him a million-dollar home
00:20:27
in Georgia, and he said that I can move in with him. I of course said yes. Who wouldn't want to live in a
00:20:33
million-dollar home? I was going through a lot of stuff in my personal life. I just really wanted to
00:20:39
get out of California. As enticing as it all was, Sarah suspected it might be too
00:20:45
good to be true. >> I took it with a grain of salt. I didn't think it was really going to happen.
00:20:52
>> But Sarah says Brandon would send her real estate listings daily. >> Oh, the houses had a shower the size of
00:21:00
my bedroom now. They were just gorgeous. [Music] and he showed her the email conversation
00:21:08
he was having with a realtor, which kind of made me think, okay, this is really going to happen.
00:21:15
>> And the promises didn't stop there. >> He one day mentioned that, oh, my mom,
00:21:20
seeing how happy I am, how excited I am to be moving with you, that after we move, she will open a boutique for you
00:21:28
to run yourself. I did find it kind of strange that his parents would spend this amount of money on a business for
00:21:37
me when I had never met them. Sarah says she thought she'd finally meet them since Brandon told her his parents had
00:21:44
bought plane tickets to take them all to Atlanta to look at homes. But a couple of days before that supposed trip, Sarah
00:21:53
received a strange text from Brandon. I got a text out of nowhere from Brandon saying, "You're getting a boob job for
00:22:00
Christmas, lol." >> The text came in at 10:43 p.m. on August 7th. Just a few hours later, Brandon's
00:22:10
parents were discovered dead. He delivered the news to Sarah the next morning. >> I got a text from Brandon saying, "My
00:22:18
parents died last night in a houseire." I didn't press them for any information.
00:22:24
I just figured that's a touchy subject. His parents had just died. >> On August 9th, after Brandon's first
00:22:31
interview with detectives, Sarah says he called her and they met up. He told me that his aunt had canled the flight
00:22:39
tickets and they just want to keep that under wraps. So, don't tell the detectives that. I thought that was very
00:22:46
odd. That's when I started to think, you know, something's kind of weird. Sarah would later learn there were no
00:22:55
airline tickets, no trip to Georgia planned, and Brandon's parents didn't die in a house fire. They were murdered.
00:23:04
It wasn't long before detectives showed up at her door. >> They just started asking me questions
00:23:11
about Brandon. She told them everything about those million-dollar homes, the supposed trip
00:23:19
to Georgia, and the text Brandon sent promising her a breast enhancement just hours before his parents were killed.
00:23:29
For police, it amounted to a financial motive for murder. But Lauren Pettit believes it actually amounts to nothing.
00:23:39
Do you believe your brother really told her those things? possibly. But I mean, that was just who my brother was.
00:23:46
>> Brandon's defense attorney agrees and says Brandon's conversations with Sarah
00:23:51
shouldn't be given much weight at all. >> That was a fantasy. He was playing out
00:23:55
with a girlfriend to impress her, which he'd always done. >> Brandon actually called a realtor and
00:24:01
actually pinpointed some houses. Is it possible that Brandon decided he was going to make that fantasy come true and
00:24:10
killed his parents so he'd have the money to actually buy that house? >> I don't see that as being realistic. I
00:24:18
see that as being something that Brandon did in order to impress friends. What about
00:24:24
the fact though right before his parents died, he had texted Sarah Wilson and said, "For Christmas, you're going to
00:24:33
get breast enhancement surgery." Just a coincidence, Martha. >> Yeah, >> honestly.
00:24:41
>> Yeah. I'm not sure it was the was the first time he said it either. >> You know, somebody could say, you know,
00:24:49
Brandon lies a lot. He lies to girlfriends. You know, he lies to the police if you're right. How do you know
00:24:56
when to believe Brandon then? >> You don't. Brandon lies a lot and very badly. There's no question about that. So, you
00:25:05
don't you look to the evidence. >> And hard definitive evidence directly tying Brandon to the murder of his
00:25:12
parents, says Martha just isn't there. [Music] Lauren Pettit stood by her brother
00:25:40
Brandon. >> He's so much bigger than I am. >> As he awaited trial, convinced of his
00:25:46
innocence. But as the case dragged on, she was all too aware there was a possibility she might end up losing him,
00:25:54
too. It's a huge burden on your shoulders, isn't it? >> Mhm. I mean, it's not really about me
00:26:04
anymore. My brother depends on me. >> What do you think your parents would want you to do?
00:26:11
>> I mean, fight for my brother, absolutely, cuz that's what they would do. I'd take care of myself.
00:26:21
>> On the 4-year anniversary of her parents' deaths, we were with Lauren as she made the trip to the cemetery.
00:26:28
[Music] On that same day, she visited Brandon in jail as well. >> Instead of it being face to face, it's
00:26:44
video visitation. and I see him on a screen for 30 minutes. >> One court delay after another. It was
00:26:52
seven long years from the time of the murders of Scott and Janet Pettit to when Brandon Pettit's trial finally
00:26:59
began on September 1st, 2020. Cameras were not allowed in court. Defense attorney Robert Winston was now
00:27:07
representing Brandon and he was up for the challenge. I've had a lot of cases over the years. So, the basic case
00:27:16
wasn't that unusual. The fact that Brandon had Aspberers, that put a new dimension on the case.
00:27:25
>> Brandon was initially supposed to be tried alongside Felix Valverity, but about a month before the trial, the
00:27:32
judge made a rare finding that Valverity was incompetent to stand trial. That means the man who may have actually done
00:27:41
the killing is unavailable to the defense. How can Brandon be put on trial when the the person who police believe
00:27:51
actually did the killing is considered incompetent? >> That's our law. >> I mean, is that fair to Brandon?
00:27:59
>> Sadly, fairness rarely enters into it. Valver was placed in psychiatric treatment with the hope that he might be
00:28:07
able to go on trial at a later date. Due to Valver's still pending case, the prosecutor's office declined our request
00:28:15
for an interview. We asked Mary Fuljaniti, a CBS News consultant and former federal prosecutor, to analyze
00:28:23
the state's case. >> You have to look at the totality of the evidence. And as you look at the
00:28:28
totality of his statements and his actions, I think it's very difficult to say he did not plan it. He did not plot
00:28:38
it. He did not desire it. He did not intend it. He did not want it. >> But the physical evidence only connects
00:28:45
Felix Valverde. The prosecution began by calling investigators who detailed all that
00:28:52
evidence found at Felix's apartment. Scott and Janet's wallets, the box of ammunition, those seven spent shell
00:29:00
casings, and most important, they would argue, keys to the pet at home. How would Felix get a hold of the keys to
00:29:08
the house? The keys were given to him by Brandon, and that was so that he could access the house, so he'd get into the
00:29:14
house and and kill his parents easily. The prosecution also called witnesses who knew Felix and testified that he had
00:29:23
obtained a new gun like this one in the weeks leading up to the murders. That gun, however, says defense attorney
00:29:30
Robert Winston, was never found. >> It was a westernstyle 22 revolver. We certainly don't know
00:29:39
that that was the murder weapon. It wasn't recovered. Don't know where it is. We don't even know if that type of
00:29:46
weapon was consistent with the bullet fragments that were found in the bodies. There was no hard evidence of anything.
00:29:55
>> They don't know if a 22 was used to kill the bad. >> What they do know though, and this is
00:30:00
critical in a circumstantial evidence case, they do know they were shot seven times. They found seven 22 caliber shell
00:30:06
casings in a planter outside of Felix Valvverde's house. In an effort to directly tie Brandon to the murders, the
00:30:15
prosecution called Mike Anderson, the Pettit's close family friend, he testified about a conversation he says
00:30:23
he had with Brandon a few months before the murders. >> He just told me, "If my parents weren't
00:30:30
here, my life would be better." Mike says he didn't think much of it at the time. But with Scott and Janet now
00:30:38
gone and Brandon on trial for their murders, that comment carried a whole new weight.
00:30:45
>> I felt like I didn't help him. But I had to tell the truth. It it it was hard. It was sad.
00:30:55
>> And that wasn't all Mike testified to. He also told the jury that in the days
00:31:01
following the murders, Brandon was looking to sell his dad's prized cars, including a 1961 Corvette.
00:31:10
He wanted to sell the vet and move to Georgia. It made me feel very uneasy. It made me
00:31:20
question everything. The prosecution also called Susan Sanchez, Brandon's ex-girlfriend, the
00:31:27
mother of his then six-year-old daughter, who still had a strain relationship with him. She said Brandon
00:31:34
once mentioned that Corvette to her, too. He couldn't wait for his dad to be dead so that it would be all his. And
00:31:41
he's also told Susan Sanchez on at least five or six occasions she testified to that he wanted his parents dead.
00:31:49
>> And there was more. Susan testified she had an ex-husband whom she had mentioned
00:31:54
to Brandon >> and he said, "Look, if you want to make him disappear, I've got a friend, Felix
00:32:00
Velv, who you can pay $500 to and your ex will disappear." Coincidences? Too many. Brandon's high school friend,
00:32:10
Sarah Wilson, also took the stand and testified about all those promises Brandon had made her. And the lead
00:32:18
detective detailed what Brandon had said in that second interview. >> So he tells you, he's going to kill his
00:32:25
parents. You give him ammunition and then you give him 100 bucks. >> He said he had paid his bills and needed
00:32:32
some money. >> It's a circumstantial case. The strongest evidence against Brandon, his
00:32:39
own words and actions before and after the murders. Has there ever been a moment though through any of this that
00:32:47
you've been wondering maybe my brother did it? >> No. But you know, I'm not going to lie.
00:32:53
I'm not naive. I still believe that my brother is innocent. But if someone can prove to me that he's not with actual
00:33:01
evidence, not just words, you know, then it is what it is and I'll deal with that.
00:33:09
>> Brandon did plan and plot the murder of his parents. He wanted the Corvette. He
00:33:14
wanted the house. He did it for money. >> But would Brandon kill the parents he loved and leaned on? The defense has to
00:33:22
raise doubts with their star witness who knows Brandon best. >> You're testifying for someone you love
00:33:30
so much. And in your head, all you think about is what if I say the wrong thing?
00:33:36
[Music] [Music] 7 years after both of her parents were murdered, Lauren Pettit took the stand
00:33:56
to try to save the man accused of killing them, her own brother, now 32 years old.
00:34:04
>> There's so many things going through your head and there's no coaching. There's no nothing. and you're just
00:34:09
here you go. Good luck. >> Defense attorney Robert Winston wanted the jury to see a very different side of
00:34:17
Brandon and his family. >> This was not a family where there was hatred, there was animosity, that there
00:34:25
was a motive to kill. It just didn't exist. >> Lauren described how important family
00:34:34
was to her brother. It was his whole world. >> And the dogs who died in the fire, she
00:34:40
says Brandon loved them, too. >> I have photos and videos galore of him with those dogs. He would skip out on
00:34:48
family vacations just to stay home and make sure the dogs were safe and okay. >> Lauren also questioned the alleged
00:34:54
financial motive, telling the jury that her parents were actually in debt at the
00:34:59
time of their death. And that Corvette that Brandon supposedly wanted, she says it was already partially in his name.
00:35:09
But perhaps the most crucial part of her testimony cast doubt on the prosecution's theory that Felix Valver
00:35:16
got into the pet at home with house keys that Brandon gave him. My parents had a
00:35:22
an extra-large sized dog door um on their back sliding glass door, which is how I had gotten into the house the day
00:35:30
after they passed. It's how the detective told us he had gotten into the house earlier that day, and he was a
00:35:36
much larger man. >> So, the detective himself went through the doggy door, and that was never
00:35:43
considered as the way the killer might have gotten into the house. >> Correct. But then, how did Felix get
00:35:49
those keys to the pet at home? >> I think the keys were probably in my parents' wallets.
00:35:56
>> Lauren says her parents had digital door locks where you punch a code to enter.
00:36:02
But in the event the battery powered locks died, she says her parents kept spare keys tucked inside their wallets
00:36:10
and left those wallets out in the open on the kitchen counter. >> Picture it this way. Felix Verd goes to
00:36:18
the house. He crawls in. Now he's inside. He sees a purse. He sees a wallet. He either thinks, "I'll get
00:36:26
these on the way out." Or he picks them up right then. And he goes upstairs and he does what he
00:36:33
does. But when he picked up the wallet of Scott Pettit, it had a key in it. When he picked up the wallet of Janet
00:36:44
Pettit, it had a key in it. >> If Brandon didn't hire Felix, if he didn't ask him to kill his parents, why
00:36:52
would Felix do it on his own? >> Two motives. One, Felix thought there was money in the house. The other theory
00:37:01
is that he heard Brandon say these things about his parents and he thought that Brandon would be happy with him.
00:37:09
But there was one big problem with the defense's theory. In a section of Brandon's videotaped interview not shown
00:37:18
in court, he admitted giving Felix the keys. >> I know how he got the keys, >> you know. Okay. How did he get the keys?
00:37:26
>> I got the keys. I never intended him to actually do anything. >> He was supposed to scare them. Okay. Not
00:37:35
hurt them. Okay. It was an admission that could destroy his defense. Brandon actually admitted that he sent Felix to
00:37:44
his home to convince his parents to stop contacting his ex-girlfriend Susan. But
00:37:51
because Brandon said it after he had asked for a lawyer, the judge didn't allow it in as evidence. And as bad as
00:37:58
it sounds, defense attorney Robert Winston claims that Brandon made it up in an effort to end the interrogation.
00:38:08
>> It seemed as though Brandon was saying, "I'll tell you anything you want to hear. Just let me out of here."
00:38:14
>> Winston was determined to show the jury why they shouldn't believe much of what
00:38:19
Brandon said. He called Dr. Laura Guyger, a clinical psychologist appointed by the court who testified
00:38:27
that Brandon's asberers could explain his questionable statements and behavior. Dr. Guyger, does she believe that that
00:38:38
Brandon's Asberger's autism interfered in that police interview to his detriment?
00:38:47
>> Absolutely. People with autism take information in differently than we do. So when the police ask a question,
00:38:57
there's always the worry, is it really understood? >> Winston was feeling optimistic when
00:39:04
after nine days of testimony from 23 witnesses, the case went to the jury. Deliberation stretched on for about a
00:39:13
day and a half and then a verdict. guilty. Our camera caught a glimpse of Brandon
00:39:24
as he was led out of the courtroom. How did your brother react to the verdict? >> He was shocked
00:39:32
and then really scared. >> Scared of what? >> His future. Four months later, Brandon was given the
00:39:41
maximum sentence, two life terms without the possibility of parole. Lauren was devastated.
00:39:50
>> It was hard not to feel paternal towards her. >> She's lost everything, hasn't she?
00:39:57
>> Really? Yes, she has. >> Lauren remains convinced her brother is innocent. She hopes one day Felix Valver
00:40:06
will go on trial and maybe then she'll get the answers she's looking for. Do you think Felix Valverde killed your
00:40:17
parents? >> I think he probably had something to do with it. >> Felix has pleaded not guilty and his
00:40:23
attorneys declined our request for an interview. As Lauren begins to pick up the pieces,
00:40:30
she sadly no longer has her dog Bailey to comfort her. He passed away in 2019. Now, a new friend, Jelly, is helping to
00:40:40
put a smile back on her face. And yet, nothing and no one will ever fill that void left by the loss of her once
00:40:50
close-knit family. What do you miss the most about your parents? >> Everything. My dad's jokes,
00:41:00
my mom tirelessly working to, you know, make sure I'm okay. Would give anything to happen back.
00:41:18
[Music] 48 hours. Don't miss an episode. [Music] [Music] Las Vegas is the adult Disneyland of the
00:42:19
world. >> People come here to play. Adults come here to play. The other side of that is
00:42:26
there is a community here that services that glitz and glamour that go to work 9 to5, run the banks,
00:42:37
run the police department, run the fire department, and have just steady jobs. >> That's George, you know, an all-around
00:42:46
great guy to hang out with. and help you get the job done. >> He's just a very, very kind, generous,
00:42:52
and giving person. And that's the George TFA I know. [Music] >> Well, Shauna was so young at heart and
00:43:01
she was so fun and she always made me laugh. >> She looks like Barbie, you know, blonde,
00:43:06
beautiful. >> Always had the long hair, you know, just looked perfect like a little China doll.
00:43:19
Well, George and Shauna met in the casino environment. He saw this blonde person whizzing past him all the time.
00:43:27
She was such a hard worker that he really admired that she was his world. That was his his life. And then when
00:43:35
their daughter came around, they just the cutest trio ever. >> We're at the beach. Okay, we're
00:43:40
>> Matty's first time at the beach. >> Turning everybody around. >> Turning us around. Maddie was just the
00:43:45
light of her life. It was really her number one priority. >> Nice day today. >> She was just all in, you know, 100%
00:43:54
there. >> A little baby. >> They were like a little cocoon. George was so protective. He waited on them
00:44:00
hand and foot. He really did. In the early morning hours on September 29th, 2012, Shauna TFA would have gotten
00:44:14
off work from being a cocktail waitress at a local casino. She went home, parked her car in the garage, entered
00:44:23
her house, a killer snuck up behind her, and beat her to death with a hammer inside her own living room. Were you
00:44:35
worried that someone was targeting casino women? >> Yes. >> We were all so scared that, you know,
00:44:44
this person was still out there. Was somebody stalking her? Was somebody obsessed with her?
00:44:51
Maybe they're going to, you know, come after one of us. >> I'm Peter Vans. Tonight on 48 Hours,
00:45:03
Vengeance in Vegas, [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] >> Shauna TFA. A loved to laugh and sing
00:45:32
with her daughter. >> When she was with Maddie, it was like nothing else was going on around her. So
00:45:43
dedicated and so concerned. >> Shauna's murder has been a devastating loss for her sister Paula Stokes
00:45:51
Richards and her husband John. >> She just laughed at life. You know, she had this innocence. It's sad because I
00:45:59
just miss her and for something like this to happen to her is just it's unimaginable.
00:46:06
[Music] >> Shauna Tf, a Mormon born in Salt Lake City, was 28 when she moved here to Las
00:46:16
Vegas. But to Shauna, Vegas was more than one big glitzy party. It was a city of opportunity. And it wasn't long
00:46:25
before she got a glamorous job as a cocktail waitress at one of the hottest casinos in town.
00:46:35
[Music] >> She loved the Palms. I think she really felt like the Palms was a a family
00:46:43
environment, which might sound contrary to what you would think, but I think the
00:46:47
the people that worked there were really like family and they looked after each other. I never hardly saw like Shauna
00:46:53
with a frown or anything. She was just so bubbly and laughing at everything. >> Cindy, Randy, and Sienna all worked
00:47:02
alongside Shauna for about 10 years. >> She loved her job. >> She loved cocktailing.
00:47:08
>> And customers love Shauna. She made close to $100,000 a year in salary and tips, often paid in casino chips, which
00:47:17
in Vegas is the same as money. In 2002, Shauna hit the jackpot when she met George TFA at the Palms. George was a
00:47:27
star athlete and homecoming king at his California high school. >> Just to look at him, he's very handsome,
00:47:35
very charismatic. What more could you ask for? >> In fact, George is a West Point graduate
00:47:41
who served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Maria and Bernardet are George's sisters.
00:47:47
>> He likes to serve people. That's what attracted him to being a fireman. >> And George is so handsome, he was even
00:47:55
featured in this firefighter pinup calendar. The all-American boy he sounds like.
00:48:00
>> Yes, he was. He looked like it. He acted like it. He was that guy. >> His sisters also say George is a devoted
00:48:09
family man who sent money home to help their mom care for their disabled younger sister.
00:48:15
>> If you need a helping hand, there he is. George and Shauna started dating. >> George was in love.
00:48:22
>> Oh, yeah. Head over heels. Yeah. Yeah. She was his world. That was his life. >> And life only got better for George and
00:48:31
Shauna. Just one year into their relationship, Maddie was born. >> Hey, there's daddy. There's Daddy and
00:48:39
Mama and little baby. Look all of us. Three years later, they were married in Hawaii.
00:48:48
>> Mama and Dad just got married. There's Shauna Castleton. >> TF. >> Now she's TFA. Look at that dress on.
00:48:55
Mama. Woo. What a smoking body. >> They really suited each other. It was really nice. They were both hardworking
00:49:02
people. They're both good-looking people. They made a lovely couple. >> But looks, as they say, can be
00:49:08
deceiving. After two happy years of marriage, things started to change. When George lost money in the housing market
00:49:16
crash, Shauna told friends he had become jealous, controlling, and critical of her.
00:49:23
>> He would tell her that she dressed like a [ __ ] when she would get dressed for
00:49:27
work in front of Maddie, which of course would tear Shauna apart, you know, for her little girl to hear these things.
00:49:35
>> Shauna also complained when George brought a homeless man into their lives who he paid to do odd jobs around the
00:49:42
house. Her friend Stephanie Vargas. >> You should call him creepy. God, he's so creepy. Why is he around my house?
00:49:49
>> But George's friend from West Point, Rock Ryder, says he was as kind-hearted as he was handsome. And befriending the
00:49:57
homeless was something he had done for years. >> Every Thanksgiving, he he'd be serving
00:50:03
soup to the homeless people. Just a very, very kind, generous, and giving person.
00:50:08
>> But even though he had a gracious heart, the strains continued in the marriage.
00:50:12
And after nearly 10 years of being together, she had enough and moved into this townhouse. They shared custody of
00:50:20
Maddie. But Shauna was reluctant to file for a divorce. >> She was sad. Her family was breaking up and this
00:50:29
isn't something that she wanted. She wanted the picket fence and the husband and the daughter.
00:50:36
She wanted the fairy tale and the fairy tale was falling apart. [Music] Determined to save their marriage,
00:50:48
Shauna and George both agreed to start seeing a marriage counselor. >> I think Shauna was an eternal optimist.
00:50:55
You know, she just kept hoping that things were going to get better. >> Then weeks before her murder, Shauna's
00:51:02
townhouse was burglarized. Her wedding ring was missing. Strangely, a pair of her bathing suit
00:51:11
bottoms were taken. And strangest of all, the robber left something behind. A pair of boxer shorts, size small.
00:51:21
>> Did this burglary, did it shake her up? >> It did. >> But I just don't think that in her mind
00:51:26
she ever thought that any harm would come to her. >> But in an ominous twist of fate, just
00:51:34
three weeks later, someone was back in her house. this time waiting for her. It is now the early morning hours of
00:51:45
September 29th, 2012. This is Shauna, seen on casino surveillance video clocking out at 3:01 a.m. These are the
00:51:56
last images of her life. After a 30inut drive, Shauna arrives home, letting herself in through the garage.
00:52:05
>> She enters into the hallway. It's dark. There's no light. >> Dan Long and Terry Miller are
00:52:10
investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. >> She moves towards the stairway to go
00:52:16
upstairs to her bedroom >> when suddenly Shauna was attacked by someone wielding
00:52:23
a hammer. >> Her hands were up at some point uh to protect her head in her face. Her
00:52:30
fingers were broken and she was savagely beaten with this metal head of that hammer. until she was dead.
00:52:40
>> At approximately 9:00 a.m., George and Maddie arrived to pick something up when
00:52:45
they walked in and he discovered Shauna's badly bludgeoned body. George immediately called 911.
00:52:53
>> 911 emergency. >> I think I need to report a a break-in in a murder. My wife.
00:53:00
My wife is uh on the floor, bloody, stiff, not moving. >> Naturally, George is going to be our
00:53:09
number one suspect. A woman that he separated from, he finds dead inside of an apartment.
00:53:15
>> Detective Miller interviewed George in a police car at the scene. >> She was lying on the floor.
00:53:22
>> She was covered in blood. I just want to die. and she was surprised with what he
00:53:28
told her. >> What shift did you work yesterday? >> A 24-hour shift. >> He said he was on call at the firehouse
00:53:34
before he picked Maddie up. Mattie had spent the night at her grandmother's house while Shauna went to work.
00:53:41
>> He had an alibi. >> And what did that tell you? >> He's not our killer. [Music]
00:54:01
[Music] It's not just Dan and I. >> You want a full mag in the weapon? >> Yeah. >> We had our entire team with this
00:54:16
>> muzzle down. Lead detectives Terry Miller and Dan Long of the Las Vegas Metro Police had their work cut out for
00:54:24
them. >> The obvious initial suspect in a case like this is the husband, but George TFA
00:54:35
had that airtight alibi. >> They learned right away that he was at work at the fire station and was not the
00:54:45
man that killed Shauna. Shauna's murder was brutal and chilling. >> I remember thinking, do we have a sexual
00:54:57
predator? >> And you got to be wondering to yourselves, do we have some sort of monster out there on the streets?
00:55:03
>> Yes. Uh we're like, who are we looking for? Are we looking for a male? Are we
00:55:08
looking for a female? But 48 hours into the investigation, detectives get a crucial tip from an
00:55:16
unlikely source. William Penn, known as Big Will. >> I've been trying to live a straight life
00:55:23
under the hands of the Lord. >> Big Will had lived in Las Vegas for years, working as a maintenance man at
00:55:31
an apartment complex. He got an urgent call from a friend. >> He said, "Uh, Big Will, I need to talk
00:55:38
to you. The friend came to see him and dropped a bombshell. He just murdered a woman.
00:55:48
When he told you that he had killed this woman, what was the expression on his face?
00:55:53
>> He was happy. Happy like he just completed a mission. A mission to where he's going to get paid a lot of money.
00:56:02
He's going to leave town and live a happy life like that. >> Did he tell you how he killed this
00:56:08
woman? >> Yeah. Yeah. He told me that. He was laughing when he said it. He said, "Uh,
00:56:17
I hit this woman with a hammer over and over and over and over until a hammer broke." The man who called Big Will was
00:56:24
nicknamed Greyhound because he was lean and fast and lived in a tent in the foothills far from the glittering lights
00:56:32
of downtown. Greyhound was an ex-con and Big Will was helping him straighten his
00:56:37
life out. But after the two men spoke, Big Will's mission became bringing Greyhound to justice.
00:56:44
>> This is a damn tragedy. I said, "So if I hear this on the news tomorrow morning, the best thing I can
00:56:54
do is follow his tracks, try to hunt him down so that I can try to bring some kind of
00:57:03
closure to this woman's family." A gorgeous cocktail waitress, a mother, brutally murdered in her own home.
00:57:11
>> That was it. A woman murdered. And Big Will knew exactly what he had to do. He
00:57:17
called police. At first, detectives Long and Miller were skeptical. >> Initially, I was thinking to myself,
00:57:25
"You've got to be kidding me. He is giving this story about this man who lives up in the mountains in a tent who
00:57:34
is homeless. And it's kind of a crazy story. >> Crazy. But cops felt they had to check
00:57:41
it out. Big Will told them Greyhound often walks miles from his desert tent to this Albertson's grocery store where
00:57:50
he'd been spotted before stealing food. So right away they went with Big Will to
00:57:56
look for him. >> I got out of the vehicle and went in to talk to the Albertson's employees in
00:58:02
hopes that they would know who somebody named Greyhound that matches this description is.
00:58:08
>> Big Will knew Greyhound sometimes sold drugs at the Chevron station right next
00:58:14
door. Then a stroke of luck. >> I see Greyhound. He says, "Hey, Big Will, what you doing
00:58:21
over here? So I said, "Wait one minute. I'll be right back." >> Big Will then whispers into my ear and
00:58:28
goes, "That's Greyhound." We got lucky. To the grace of God, he was there. >> I'm like, "This can't be happening." I
00:58:35
walk outside. I want to get as close as I can to him before he identifies me as a police officer.
00:58:41
>> Cops identified themselves and immediately find drugs in Greyhound's possession. So, they take him to police
00:58:48
headquarters. and he's volunteered to come to our office and help us with their investigation.
00:58:53
>> Greyhound's real name is Nol Stevens. He denies he has anything to do with Shauna
00:58:59
TFA's murder. >> I have nothing to do with it's not me. You have the wrong guy. He tells us that
00:59:05
he does live in the desert. He has a tent. >> All right. Meet you there. >> All right.
00:59:09
>> While Greyhound is held on drug charges, a massive police search is launched to
00:59:14
find his campsite. Terry and I walked in that fence. We had to climb through that fence. That was
00:59:21
tough. This case came down to shoe leather. We ran it all down. Right on top of that
00:59:27
little hill was where his tent was. [Music] It was out here in these rocky desert
00:59:36
foothills about 8 miles from the Vegas strip, which is behind me, that detectives making their way through this
00:59:43
treacherous landscape, discovered some important evidence. >> We brought a helicopter with us and a
00:59:50
bunch of people to search and we searched every one of these hills. >> Remote. >> Remote. Yes. I walked past a small shrub
00:59:57
and rolled up underneath of the shrub was a pair of pants and looked out of place.
01:00:02
>> Detective Sam Smith had found a crucial piece of evidence near the campsite. A
01:00:07
pair of Steven's pants. They were bloody. Police tested them on the spot. >> And what did you learn later about the
01:00:16
blood on those jeans? Whose blood was it? >> Uh that was uh Shauna TFA's blood. Back at headquarters, police confronted
01:00:24
Nol Stevens with what they had found. Then they used an old trick to pry more information out of him. A lot of people
01:00:33
don't know this. Investigators are allowed, I'll use this word, to mislead a suspect.
01:00:38
>> No, we're allowed to lie. >> They bluffed Greyhound, saying someone fingered him for the murder.
01:00:46
Stevens stuns the detectives by admitting he killed Shauna TFA. But why? More clues were found when police
01:00:55
examined Null Stevens cell phone. >> What kind of numbers do you find on that phone?
01:01:01
>> We find a guy by the name of George in his cell phone. And when we ask him who's George, he says that's my friend,
01:01:07
the firefighter. >> George was George TFA, Shauna's husband. And null Stevens was that homeless
01:01:16
handyman who had caused friction in the TFA marriage. >> We looked at each other and
01:01:22
>> Bing bing bing bing bing. You hit this is Vegas. You just hit the all sevens,
01:01:27
right? Yes, we did. >> Exactly. Yes, we did. [Music] [Music] There's mama. She's looking hot with the
01:01:46
shades on. As soon as she heard about the tragic murder of her beautiful sister, Paula Richards and her husband
01:01:54
John immediately had one suspect in mind. >> Look at everybody. >> We all thought that George was involved,
01:02:03
but we couldn't figure out how he did it. So, they decided to call George, who was still standing outside Shauna's
01:02:12
townhouse with police. >> So, I thought we need to record this. >> Hello, >> George.
01:02:22
>> Yes, sir. >> This is This is Paula. Can you tell me what's going on? >> passed away.
01:02:28
>> And what did they do to her? >> God, I don't know. She's laying on the floor with blood on her head.
01:02:39
>> How are is she still Is Shauna's body still there? >> Yes, I think so. >> God,
01:02:49
there's Daddy and Mama. >> George then hands his cell phone to a grief counselor.
01:02:56
>> No one else can hear what I'm saying. Correct. >> Correct. >> Paula then makes a startling accusation.
01:03:04
I have my suspicions that her husband may be involved in this based on, you know, many, many conversations I've
01:03:12
had with my sister. Um, I I highly suspect that he may be involved. >> The day after the murder, the couple
01:03:23
caught the first flight to Las Vegas from Nashville. When we landed on the flight out to Las Vegas, we had both
01:03:32
shifted into this investigator mode. >> While John and Paula were conducting their amateur investigation,
01:03:40
detectives Miller and Long were continuing their professional one. >> You see the telephone poles right along
01:03:47
there. >> Armed with a good luck charm, a casino chip that belonged to Shauna. And I
01:03:53
said, "I want you to hold on to this because this has allowed me to feel like Shauna is near us and uh you can give it
01:04:00
back to me when you get an arrest." >> Soon into their investigation, detectives had discovered dozens of
01:04:07
phone calls between Null and George before the murder. >> You said 87 calls. >> That's That's correct. 87 phone calls in
01:04:19
one month. That's more than I talk to my husband. >> TFA and Stevens met years earlier when
01:04:26
both were living on this middle class street. Null at his sister's house. >> This house right here is the sister's
01:04:33
house was where null was living. >> And the TFAS down the block right down here.
01:04:37
>> Yes. N got to know George, asked him if he could do yard work for George. >> Cops soon learned from N. Stevens their
01:04:44
relationship was complicated. Null idolized George. He genuinely thought that he and George were very, very close
01:04:54
and would never turn on one another. >> But detectives believed George was manipulating his friend who may have
01:05:02
suffered from mental illness. >> He has a pawn. He has a an implement, a tool in in the in Null Stevens, and he's
01:05:10
going to use that tool. >> Big Will told detectives that George gave N. Stevens $600 in cash to kill
01:05:19
Shauna with the promise of thousands more to come. He said, "Well, uh, he gave me a key to
01:05:30
get in this lady's house and I murdered her and my heart dropped." And I said, "What?" I said, "You just signed
01:05:38
yourself a death warrant. You don't know if this man is going to try to kill you
01:05:42
or what." When cops were scouring Nol Stevens desert campsite, another intriguing clue they found was a barcode
01:05:51
tag. They scanned it. It matched the style of hammer used to kill Shauna. >> We figure out that Lowe's sells those
01:05:59
hammers. >> That launched investigators on a tedious mission, reviewing hundreds of hours of
01:06:06
video surveillance tape. Finally, they hit pay dirt when they spotted George and N. Stevens shopping
01:06:15
together for hammers. We have our definite connection between null and George. >> Stevens was singing to cops like a
01:06:28
canary. >> So, he gave you a road map and you're following it and you're finding exactly
01:06:32
what he said you'd find. >> Absolutely. >> Even leading them to where he had buried
01:06:37
the murder weapon. this hammer which broke in two during the brutal attack >> and um there was blood on it.
01:06:47
>> They also discover a possible motive for murder. Money. >> New floors, new carpet, new bathtub, new
01:06:55
sink, new dishwasher. >> Mama's happy about that, huh? >> Shauna liked to spend it and George
01:07:02
liked to save it. There are some financial transactions that appear like he's trying to hide money uh through his
01:07:10
mom. >> With the news tightening on George TFA, detectives meet with his family 9 days
01:07:17
after Shauna's murder. >> So, at the end of the interview, I tell mom and sister that George is involved
01:07:25
in killing Shauna. >> How do they react to that? >> It's traumatic to them. >> No, no, no. They're crying. They're
01:07:33
telling us that we are absolutely 100% wrong. >> Minutes after that conversation, police
01:07:40
who had George under surveillance and were monitoring his phone calls overhear his sister calling him. Suddenly, George
01:07:49
jumped back into his truck and took off quote unquote like a bat out of hell. >> George weaves erratically through city
01:07:58
traffic and onto the Summerland Parkway. He accelerates to 90 mph and smashes headon into a barrier.
01:08:09
Cops believe it was a suicide attempt. >> He's trying to end his life right now because he can't face the fact of what's
01:08:20
going to come. >> Amazingly, George survived the crash because cops say he was wearing a seat
01:08:27
belt. He was rushed to a local hospital where detectives later arrested him. >> And I said, "George, you're under arrest
01:08:35
for the murder of your wife, Shauna TFA." And his reaction was simply to look up from his hospital bed and say,
01:08:43
"Okay." >> That's when police also charged Null Stevens with Shauna's murder. >> Whoa, look at this. There's Shauna
01:08:56
Castleton. >> TFA. >> Now she's TFA. Wow. She looks >> It was um >> a feeling of relief. Um all we wanted
01:09:08
was justice for Shauna. >> Are we ready to arraign Mr. TFA? >> We are. >> Detectives believe George TFA was just
01:09:17
one step away from getting away with it all. >> Commit the murder and then do away with
01:09:24
null. If he can get that done in the right way, he's gonna commit the perfect crime.
01:09:30
>> But George is steadfastly maintaining his innocence. >> State versus no Stevens.
01:09:35
>> And prosecutors are worried about their key witness, Nol Stevens. >> He's at the heart of the murder
01:09:42
conspiracy. Right. >> He is a very important factor in the case. He >> he's mentally ill, right? He has a
01:09:49
violent criminal history and he's your star witness. You know, the defense wants him to be
01:09:56
our star witness. George TFA's defense attorney, Robert Langford, knows how to take command.
01:10:15
Whether as an actor in front of a live theater audience, [Music] >> or before a jury in a sin city
01:10:25
courtroom, >> there's circumstantial evidence and there's direct evidence. And now
01:10:31
Langford is front and center in a case that even a playwright would find difficult to imagine.
01:10:38
>> It's good story. It's real interesting, but it's not evidence yet in the case.
01:10:44
>> Who is responsible for the murder of Shauna Tf? >> Nol Stevens. Null Stevens says he is. Null Stevens
01:10:55
beat her to death with a hammer. Was he hired by George TFA to do that? >> There's no evidence of that.
01:11:03
>> It's been 3 years since the murder and Shauna's family and friends like Lacy Green are apprehensive.
01:11:11
>> I'm not confident. It's very scary not knowing what's going to happen. >> I fear that he will be found innocent.
01:11:20
>> At no point during the communication with the police does George TSA ever mention null Stevens. In his opening
01:11:27
statement, prosecutor Mark Djakamo knows he has to make Nol Stevens and George TFA partners in crime.
01:11:35
>> He calls Null Stevens 87 times in the month of September. >> The prosecutor's biggest challenge will
01:11:43
be getting a jury to believe George TFA is capable of murder. You're going up against an all-American boy. That's a
01:11:51
tough challenge. >> It is. As a prosecutor, it's highly unusual to have the resume of George TFA
01:11:58
and then him be a murder suspect. >> I think George TFA is someone who had numerous successes in his life.
01:12:06
>> Pam Wickerly, assistant Clark County DA, has scrutinized what she thinks makes
01:12:12
TFA tick and what may have driven him to murder. >> When his marriage is crumbling, I think
01:12:18
that's something that he just can't cope with. the idea that he wouldn't have complete control over his daughter and
01:12:26
Shauna. Ultimately, >> unraveling the complicated tale of George TFA's intertwined relationship
01:12:33
with Nol Stevens is left to prosecution witnesses. Big Will Panics remembers exactly what Stevens told him the day
01:12:42
Shauna was killed. >> He said, "I got something to tell you." And I said, "Well, what is it?" He said,
01:12:48
"Uh, I just, uh, murdered a woman." And right then and there, I said, "You've got to be a damn fool."
01:12:56
>> Did you believe everything that Null Stevens Greyhound told you? >> Uh, it depends on the the day.
01:13:04
>> Yet, Pennix admits under defense questioning that trusting what Stevens has to say is a dubious prospect at
01:13:12
best. At a scale of one to 10, I would put him at a scale of maybe one and a half.
01:13:19
>> 10 being very honest and zero being >> one and a half meaning not honest at all. That's correct.
01:13:26
>> And prosecutors admit that honesty may be the least of null Stevens problems.
01:13:32
>> He's an alcoholic. He's told a tunnel of lies before and oh, and he's a multiple
01:13:36
time felon on top of it. Despite all that, the courtroom falls silent as a very differentl looking null Stevens,
01:13:45
perhaps the most unlikely star prosecution witness in Clark County history, takes the stand.
01:13:52
>> He looks like a maniac. I I literally felt like my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw him walk through that
01:13:58
door. Stevens, who pleaded guilty in 2013 to Shauna's murder, agreed to testify against TFA once prosecutors in a
01:14:08
pre-trial deal promised not to seek the death penalty against him. >> Where did you grow up?
01:14:18
>> I California. >> When you get nervous, do you have sometimes a little trouble speaking?
01:14:24
>> I said, >> "And you guys, are you thinking to each other, are we nuts?" Yes. >> I don't know if we're thinking it to
01:14:30
each other. We're we're saying it to each other. >> How did you meet George? >> But Stevens soon settles in and prodded
01:14:36
by Dejakamo recites details of his relationship with TFA. >> Are you just doing work for him or is
01:14:43
there something? >> What kind of things have you done together? >> We worked out stuff like that. He
01:14:50
recounts breaking into Shauna's townhouse three weeks before her murder and admits he's the one who left behind
01:14:58
those size small boxers. >> Who told you to make it look like a robber? >> George did.
01:15:04
>> And without a hint of remorse, Stevens coldly describes how he killed Shauna with that hammer.
01:15:11
>> I hit her in the head. >> What happens when you come out that door and you're holding that hammer? She
01:15:18
tells me why I'm doing this. >> She says, "Why are you doing this?" >> Yes. >> Who told you to kill Shonah?
01:15:23
>> George. >> He is a a zombie parrot in that he had a response which was always, "George.
01:15:36
George did it. George told me. George." Itching to cross-examine Stevens, Langford rips right into him, getting
01:15:45
the state star witness to admit he not only hears voices, >> but has visions. >> Cuz I hallucinate.
01:15:53
>> What kind of hallucinations? >> I see uh sh sometimes. >> Sometimes. Yes. >> Do you see other people?
01:16:02
>> Sometimes. >> Do you hear voices? >> Yes. Nol Stevens is the craziest person I've ever seen take the stand. What is
01:16:13
reasonable doubt if not Null Stevens? >> I think the more null talks uh the more
01:16:20
believable he is. It seemed impossible to me that he could have fabricated this notion of a conspiracy with that level
01:16:28
of detail uh unless it really happened. Prosecutors replace some of the most damning evidence. That footage of George
01:16:38
TFA and Null Stevens buying hammers, knives, and other items. >> You have this defendant buying two
01:16:48
hammers in 5 days. >> TFA himself sits calmly through the trial, showing no emotion. He never
01:16:57
takes the stand. >> They have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. and they didn't. So,
01:17:04
there's no reason to put George on the stand. >> The only defense witness, TFA's sister,
01:17:10
Maria. >> In all the years that you've known George, have you ever known him to be a violent
01:17:16
person? >> Never. Ever. Ever. >> I have no further questions. >> Along with TFA's family, friends from
01:17:24
his childhood and West Point days are in court to show their support. I'm here because I'm willing to stand behind and
01:17:31
defend George's character. >> George is not the person that is being depicted by the prosecutor.
01:17:39
>> After a week-long trial, hearing from some 40 witnesses and with 400 exhibits
01:17:46
in evidence, 12 jurors will now decide the fate of George TFA. Juror Roy Wright had questions. Were they just buying
01:17:55
these things for null to be a handyman with, or were they buying them for a murder?
01:17:59
>> My fear is that that the defense is able to discredit null enough that it causes
01:18:06
reasonable doubt. [Music] >> So cute. >> Oh, look. You can clap. Good girl. [Music]
01:18:26
It has been 3 years since Shauna Tf was found brutally murdered. And today, her family hopes their long, agonizing wait
01:18:34
will end in justice. >> I'm just on pins and needles. You know, my stomach has been in knots for days,
01:18:43
and I don't think I've ever been so nervous. >> A jury will decide if George TFA was the
01:18:49
mastermind behind his wife's murder. George TFA is the evil one. >> On one side of the courtroom sits
01:18:56
Shauna's family. Some are dressed in her favorite color, pink. On the other side
01:19:02
sites supporters. His sister, Bernardet, takes a moment to pray. >> He's been called a monster.
01:19:10
People call him a monster. It's just ridiculous and shocking. After three long days,
01:19:21
finally a verdict. >> The clerk will read the verdict. The defendant will rise. We the jury in the
01:19:27
above title case find the defendant George MTFA as follows. Count one, conspiracy to commit murder. Guilty
01:19:36
>> guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and firstdegree murder. Seven counts in
01:19:42
all. George stands silent with the same emotionless stare. he has had throughout
01:19:48
the entire trial. >> Guilty of robbery with a deadly. >> His family is simply devastated.
01:19:54
>> Murder with you. >> In your opinion, was an injustice done here? >> Yes, because I believe that the evidence
01:20:01
showed reasonable doubt. >> Paula, who knew from day one that George was behind her sister's murder, is
01:20:09
humbled. It was almost three years ago that Shauna was brutally murdered and we're so happy that justice was served.
01:20:17
>> Prosecutor Mark Takamo says he never lost sight of his good luck charm. That casino chip that belonged to Shauna and
01:20:25
given to him by her family. >> And for you, what did that chip represent? >> It represented their hope of justice.
01:20:33
You know, it sat on my computer for 3 years and uh when I walked over for the verdict, I put it in my pocket.
01:20:39
>> Everyone deserves mercy. >> At his sentencing, a jury must decide George's fate. Life in prison or life
01:20:47
with the possibility of parole in as soon as 20 years. >> We hope he gets the maximum penalty.
01:20:54
George is a controller, a manipulator, and I think the worst hell for him will be staying in prison the rest of his
01:21:01
life and not being able to control anything. >> Paula takes the stand to remind the
01:21:05
jurors of her loss. >> Shauna's greatest joy in this world was being a mother. I remember her always
01:21:13
running her fingers through Mattiey's ponytail, and she would call her little monkey.
01:21:18
>> I would call Maria. George's family and friends also speak, hoping their words
01:21:23
will persuade the jury to show mercy. >> George is one of the best of us. He's hardworking, compassionate. You will not
01:21:30
find a better firefighter on the job than than George. >> I'm George's brother. That's pretty much
01:21:35
who I am. >> How did you feel about that? >> I was proud. >> Clerk will read the decision.
01:21:41
>> The sentence >> impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. George TFA will
01:21:47
spend the rest of his life in prison >> next month. >> Juror Roy Wright says that while null
01:21:55
Stevens is troubled, they never doubted his story. >> I think the general consensus was he
01:22:00
wasn't really smart enough to make up a elaborate story that would fit the timeline so perfectly.
01:22:07
>> And the jury also believed this witness. >> I said, "Praise the Lord. Justice has
01:22:14
been served." Big Will, who jumpst started the investigation. >> Is Big Will a hero in this case to you?
01:22:21
>> He is and he doesn't believe in being an individual who turns a friend in. Uh but
01:22:27
when he heard the story from null, he felt a moral conviction to make the phone call and for that you know he is a
01:22:33
hero. >> With the trial behind them, Paula and John Richards worry about Shauna's
01:22:39
daughter, Maddie, who is now 11 years old. She has lost both of her parents. Maddie lives with George's mom, but
01:22:48
Paula and John visit her often. >> I'm sure she was hoping her daddy would come home, but when she's old enough,
01:22:55
I'll explain to her why that's not the case and why it shouldn't be the case. >> Oh, fun to ride. One more.
01:23:03
>> This is her birthday dress. Sometimes when we're talking about Shauna with Maddie, I can tell when
01:23:09
Maddie is reflecting in her face that she laughed a lot with her mom. I can't explain it, but I know that Maddie found
01:23:18
a lot of laughter, you know, with Shauna. >> You're so pretty. What a pretty girl.
01:23:24
[Music] [Music] Day eight in the Alec Murdoch. >> Day nine of the double >> Week three of the ALEC 100 hours of
01:24:19
testimony. >> This is the 14th day of the trial drags into week four. The defense called more witnesses.
01:24:26
>> Day 22 of the Alec Murdoch. >> Week six, day 25. And the double murder trial of Alec Murdoch continues in
01:24:31
college. >> Alec Murdo is on trial for the double homicide of his wife Maggie and his son
01:24:37
Paul near the dog kennels of their family's hunting estate. Local media has called it the trial of the century in
01:24:43
South Carolina. It has attracted media from across the world. murder their family.
01:24:48
>> Alec Murdoch used to be a really predominant lawyer in South Carolina and is a member of this very powerful legal
01:24:56
dynasty. >> On the evening of June 7th, 2021, his son Paul Murdoch was standing in a small
01:25:04
room in some kennels they had on the property. The defendant over there, Alan Murdoch, took a 12 shades shotgun and
01:25:11
shot him in the chest and the shoulder. But after that, another shock went up under his head and did catastrophic
01:25:17
damage. >> The lead prosecutor for the state is Kraton Waters. >> Just moments later, he picked up a 300
01:25:26
Blackout AR style rifle and opened fire on his wife Maggie. Pow pow and killed her instantly. Alex Murdoch's claim is
01:25:36
that he ate dinner with his family, took a nap on the couch. He goes to visit his
01:25:41
mother, comes home just after 10 p.m. and finds his wife and child shot and killed.
01:25:46
>> This is Alex, my wife and child. Copy. I'm going on scene. His immediate reaction was to start telling me about
01:25:54
an incident that had happened with his son with a boating accident. >> My son was in a boat wreck
01:26:00
months back. He's been getting threats. I know that's what it is. I'm Seth Stoton. I'm a law professor at the
01:26:06
University of South Carolina. Paul Murdoch was on a boat with some other individuals. There was drinking. The
01:26:13
boat crash and one of the individuals on the boat, Mallerie Beach, was killed. >> They told you that it was just random
01:26:21
vigilantes from the boat case of which there is no evidence whatsoever. They were alleging that Alec wanted to murder
01:26:28
his wife and son because he wanted to hide the fact that he'd been stealing millions of dollars from his law firm
01:26:33
and his clients for years. This is a spreadsheet referencing each client and the amount that was stolen from each
01:26:39
client. $225,7346. $112,500. $338,56.14. >> And why did y'all have to pay all that
01:26:51
money back? because Alec had stolen it. >> The facts are what matter here. The facts.
01:26:57
>> Murdoch's got some heavy hitters on his side. Dick Carutian is the Johnny Cochran of South Carolina.
01:27:03
>> Did he murder his wife and son? >> No. >> Does he have any idea who did? >> No. There's no eyewitness. There's no
01:27:10
fingerprints. There's no forensics tying him to the crime. >> None. The prosecution has had one major
01:27:16
smoking gun in its case, and it's Paul Murdo's video that he took at 8:44 p.m. >> Hey, he's got burners now.
01:27:25
Come here, mama. >> Come here, C. >> Did you recognize any voices on that video?
01:27:30
>> Paul Murdoch, Maggie Murdoch, and Alec Murdock. >> Do you recognize Alex's voice?
01:27:35
>> Yes, sir. >> How will they explain that Alec was actually at the dog kennels 5 minutes
01:27:41
before the murder when he claims to have been sleeping? Were you in fact at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night Maggie
01:27:46
and Paul were murdered? >> I was. >> You continued lying after that night, did you not?
01:27:52
>> But once I lied, I continued to lie. Yes, sir. >> Would you ever do anything to harm
01:27:58
Maggie? >> I would never hurt Maggie. I did not kill Maggie. I did not kill Paul.
01:28:05
>> The state versus Richard Alexander Murdoch. Verdict guilty. It doesn't matter how prominent you are.
01:28:13
If you do wrong, if you break the law, if you murder, then justice will be done in South Carolina.
01:28:24
[Music] [Music] Heat. [Laughter] Heat. [Music] It was a field trip to a ghost town.
01:29:11
Off a country road, the procession turned slowly up the long driveway of the imposing property. This convoy held
01:29:19
the jury in the double murder trial of Alec Murd. [Music] This is Mel, the hunting lodge of the
01:29:28
Murd family. Alec, his wife Maggie, and sons Paul and Buster. The jury was taken to the dog kennels
01:29:38
and the small feed room where Paul had been shot at close range with a shotgun. A few yards away, Maggie was shot
01:29:46
several times with a 300 blackout rifle. Neither weapon has ever been found. There was a time when this estate
01:29:55
reflected the vast power and prestige of the Murdall legal dynasty. Now the withered ground seemed to echo
01:30:03
Alec Murdo's steep fall from grace. From a rich powerful lawyer to an admitted drug addict.
01:30:11
>> Oxycodone. Oxycontton >> thief. >> I stole money that was not my money. >> And convicted murderer.
01:30:19
>> Verdict guilty. >> What do you think of the verdict? Ale, move against the side of my car.
01:30:26
>> This is where Alec Myrtle's life unraveled on June 7th, 2021. >> This is your wife and son.
01:30:33
>> Okay. >> I knew it was really bad. >> Come on. >> That night, when Myrtle was interviewed
01:30:42
by investigators, he was quick to offer up an explanation for the murders of his
01:30:48
wife and son. >> My son Paul was in a boat wreck. There's been a lot of negative publicity about
01:30:54
that and there's been a lot of people online just really vile stuff. >> The crash that would kill 19-year-old
01:31:02
Mallalerie Beach happened about 2:20 a.m. on February 24th, 2019. >> Where's your emergency?
01:31:11
>> We're in a boat crash on Arthur Creek. when a boat carrying six young friends
01:31:17
smashed into a bridge. Connor Cook made the frantic call to 911. >> There's six of us and one is missing.
01:31:25
>> Okay. Who's missing? >> Female Mallerie Beats is missing. >> She's in the water.
01:31:32
>> She was just this wonderful, fun-loving, happy girl. >> And everybody loved her. Lynn Revvice
01:31:44
and her niece Mallerie were extremely close. >> You always got a hug hello and a hug
01:31:49
goodbye. And the last thing she told me was she loved me. In piecing together events,
01:31:56
investigators learned earlier that night, 19-year-old Paul Mydall used his older brother Buster's ID to buy beer at
01:32:04
this convenience store. >> And if you look at the video footage, when Paul comes out of the store, he's
01:32:09
holding the beer up. He's celebrating. [Music] >> After staying at a party for several
01:32:15
hours, the group took the Murdo family's boat to this bar, where Paul and Connor
01:32:21
had more to drink around 1:00 a.m. >> When they went in, pounded a couple of shots.
01:32:26
>> Michael Dit is an author and editor of the Hampton County Guardian, part of the
01:32:30
Guanette USA Today network. >> Somewhere around 1:30, see the video footage of them leaving the boat dock.
01:32:37
It was kind of a sad, touching moment when you see Mallalerie and her boyfriend. I think it's the last moment
01:32:43
that anybody captured an image of her alive. >> It was around 1:15 when they took off
01:32:49
again on the boat. >> Paul was just driving donuts and just >> passenger Miley Alman told investigators
01:32:56
tempers were running short. And >> so Connor starts driving for a little bit and then Paul like he like stops
01:33:03
Connor and he's like, "No, this is my boat. Like let me drive. I saw the bridge coming.
01:33:13
>> What bridge is it, Paul? What bridge is it? >> First responders dash cam video captured
01:33:21
the mayhem. >> All right. Where's everybody else at? >> Everyone at the bridge. At the bottom of
01:33:26
the bridge. >> Everybody was crying, scared, shocked, >> just worried about their friend. Then
01:33:33
Buford County Deputy Sheriff Steven Domino was one of the first on the scene. After Domino's got Mallalerie's
01:33:44
distraught boyfriend, Anthony Cook into his patrol car, Paul Murdoch, came into sight.
01:33:50
>> He was walking up from where the boat was. >> Get that right there away from me.
01:33:55
>> He actually tried to rush through me to get to Paul because I guess he saw him
01:34:00
smiling. And Paul's smiling while Anony's girlfriend's missing in the water. >> Right.
01:34:05
>> Bro, you smiling like it's funny. >> Sit down. >> My girlfriend's gone, folks.
01:34:12
>> That's when Anthony Cook definitively identified the person he said was driving the boat.
01:34:19
>> Y'all know Alec Murdoch? >> Yeah, I know that name. >> That's his son. >> Driving the boat.
01:34:26
>> Good luck. >> That's when he indicated that he couldn't be touched. Mallerie's body was found a week later.
01:34:35
>> And in the weeks after that, we're just waiting. Is someone going to make an arrest? Is there going to be a a
01:34:41
admission of of guilt or responsibility? >> We're in a boat crash. I think that from
01:34:48
day one, ground zero, the effort was what can we do to get Paul out of this? Who do you think is responsible for
01:35:14
Mallerie's death? I think Paul Murdoch was >> a month after the fatal boat crash.
01:35:22
Frustrated that there was no arrest, Mallerie Beach's family filed a wrongful death suit against members of the Murdo
01:35:30
family, which allowed them to depose the survivors about what happened that night.
01:35:35
>> Paul was allegedly acting rash and reckless. In his deposition, Paul's friend, Connor
01:35:42
Cook, said that the morning of the crash, he didn't tell investigators that Paul was driving the boat because he was
01:35:48
afraid. And while at the hospital, he says he was told by Alec Murd that he didn't
01:35:55
need to tell anyone who was driving. >> Alex reportedly went from room to room to try to communicate with the other
01:36:03
boat crash passengers and get them all on the same page. At the hospital several hours after the crash, Paul's
01:36:10
blood alcohol level was three times over the legal limit. >> He was getting belligerent with the the
01:36:18
nurses staff, according to court records, just being loud and troublesome. >> But that morning and for weeks to come,
01:36:25
many felt that Paul Murdo was not treated like a suspect in a crime. >> We didn't think he was going to be
01:36:32
charged. Why? because it was taking so long. We just didn't think we'd see that day.
01:36:42
>> Nearly two months after the boat crash, Paul was charged with causing the death
01:36:46
of Mallalerie Beach. He pleaded not guilty and remained free after posting bond and the Murd began to tarnish.
01:36:55
[Music] Two years passed and on June 7th, 2021, as Paul Murdo was awaiting trial in the
01:37:06
death of Mallalerie Beach, gunfire erupted on the Murdoch family estate. >> Justice Alec Murdoch at 4147 Moselle
01:37:16
Road. At 10:06 p.m., a panic sounding Alec Murd called 911 saying he had just arrived home to find his wife of nearly
01:37:27
28 years, Maggie, and their son, Paul, shot. >> Is he moving at all? Your son? I know
01:37:33
you said that she was shot, but what about your son? >> Nobody's. They're not. Neither one of
01:37:41
them's moving. Maggie's friend Caroline Price called her godson Buster when she heard the
01:37:47
terrible news. >> I said, "Please tell me this isn't true." And you said, "Yes, ma'am, Miss
01:37:52
Caroline, it is." And he immediately, without prompt, said it was premeditated and revenge. They were trying to say
01:38:00
that it was associated with the boat crash, >> that someone was angry at Paul. Yeah.
01:38:04
>> Right. Due to the Murdoch family's close ties with local law enforcement, the
01:38:09
South Carolina law enforcement division known as SLED, the state's top investigative agency took over the case.
01:38:17
>> It was amazing to me how quick this rumor mill started. >> Maggie's friend, Shelley West, heard
01:38:21
about the murders from a friend. >> I just said, "Do you think Ell did it?" And he said, "No, there were two guns on
01:38:29
the scene." >> But it actually crossed your mind that he might have done it. Yeah. I mean,
01:38:33
yeah. I mean, that was my first initial reaction. A lot of times the husband's the first suspect.
01:38:38
>> And Caroline says she had a strange conversation with him after Maggie and Paul's funeral.
01:38:44
>> He talked a lot about Paul, the fact that he wasn't going to get his day in court. He wasn't going to get to clear
01:38:51
his name. >> Murdo offered a $100,000 reward as rumors and speculation swirled. Reports
01:38:59
at the time raised questions about their marriage and claimed that Maggie was consulting with a divorce attorney.
01:39:06
>> Mary and her sister asked me, "Do do you know anything about this?" And I said,
01:39:10
"No." And she said, "She never said anything to me." And she tells me everything.
01:39:15
>> Maggie never mentioned there was any trouble in the marriage. >> At a hearing a few months later, I
01:39:21
questioned the Murd family attorney, Dick Harput, about the Murdo's relationship. Were there any problems in
01:39:28
Maggie and Alex's marriage? >> Absolutely none. None. And I I'm Trust me, I was with them for almost two
01:39:35
years. Always affectionate, always courteous. You just picture of a domestic voice.
01:39:42
>> And as for the theory that the murders were in retaliation for the boat crash,
01:39:47
Maggie's friends say she never mentioned any threats against their family. >> She talked about how unkind everybody
01:39:53
was and mean. um the looks and the snares >> and they didn't seem to feel unsafe. I
01:39:58
mean, they were still carrying on with their normal routine day-to-day activities and things.
01:40:05
>> As investigators tried to figure out who would want Paul and Maggie Murdo dead
01:40:09
and why, a call came into 911 that another member of the family was under attack.
01:40:16
>> Somebody stopped to help me and they tried to shoot me. And it's almost been a case of episodic
01:40:23
television where tune in this week and we'll see what's next from Hampton County, home of the Murdoch.
01:40:35
[Music] 3 months after the shooting deaths of Maggie and Paul, Alec Murdo again called
01:40:49
911. this time claiming he'd been shot. >> Somebody stopped to help me and they tried to shoot me.
01:40:57
>> Alex Murdoch told investigators he was changing a flat tire right here on this
01:41:01
rural road when a person in a pickup truck passed by, asked Alex if he was having car trouble, and then shot him in
01:41:09
the head. >> Murdo's conversation on the way to the hospital was captured on police body
01:41:14
cam. what kind of gun it was. >> I I don't know what kind of gun it was, but it sounded like a shotgun.
01:41:21
>> On September 6th, 2021, 2 days after being shot, Alec Murd released this statement. I have made a lot of
01:41:28
decisions that I truly regret, he said, and announced he was leaving the law firm.
01:41:34
>> Alex Murdoch put out a statement saying he's going into rehab. >> Alec Murdoch said he had been addicted
01:41:40
to opioids for two decades. It wasn't only claims of drug abuse now staining Murdo's reputation. He was also accused
01:41:49
of stealing millions from his own law firm and was asked to resign the day before he was shot.
01:41:56
>> Friday, the law firm has a come to Jesus meeting with him. We know you're allegedly stealing money. You're out.
01:42:03
Saturday, the reported shooting. Monday, Alex releases a statement saying, "I'm going into rehab.
01:42:12
Then came the even more bizarre news that Myrtle had allegedly hired this man, his distant cousin Curtis Smith, to
01:42:20
shoot him. He wanted you to kill him. >> Yeah, he wanted me to kill him. >> Authorities say Murdall wanted his
01:42:26
killing to look like murder so his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance payout. Smith
01:42:34
says he refused. >> Yeah, ain't happening. It's unclear exactly how Murdoch came to be shot. Why did you
01:42:43
leave the scene? >> I didn't know anything else do. >> Smith was charged in connection with the
01:42:48
shooting, but has not entered a plea. On September 16th, 2021, facing charges of
01:42:54
insurance fraud, conspiracy, and filing a false police report. Alec Murd turned himself in.
01:43:01
>> The fact that uh Murdoch sat in a chair in a jumpsuit with handcuffs is something I've never seen in my
01:43:07
lifetime. Alec Murd was released on bond and allowed to go back to rehab. While Murdall was there, investigators were
01:43:16
looking into all of his business dealings and the suspicious death of this woman,
01:43:23
Gloria Satderfield. >> Gloria was the housekeeper for the Murd family for more than 20 years.
01:43:29
>> Ronnie Richter is an attorney for the Satderfield family. >> She literally helped raise Alec Murd's
01:43:36
sons, Paul and Buster. In 2018, the 57year-old died after a fall at the Myrtle estate.
01:43:44
>> What's been reported is that she was at the house that day on the front steps.
01:43:48
The dogs got a little rambunctious and gave her a push and she fell down the stairs.
01:43:52
>> Satderfield's death was ruled natural and no autopsy was ever performed. >> There's nothing natural about a
01:43:59
57year-old woman falling down a flight of steps and dying from head trauma. At Gloria's funeral, Mydall did
01:44:07
something very odd, says RTOR. He recommended Gloria's sons file a wrongful death lawsuit against him. My
01:44:15
doll even steered them toward an attorney, his friend Cory Fleming. >> A lot of trust was placed in both Alec
01:44:21
and in Cory, to do the right things, and it really went south from the outset. Court documents show a $4.3 million
01:44:31
payout by Mydall's insurance company, but none of the money ever went to Gloria's family. Where did that money
01:44:39
go? >> Well, allegedly it went into Alex Murdo's pocket. >> Alex Murdo was charged with two felonies
01:44:46
for his role in the Gloria Satderfield insurance fraud. This time, a judge ordered him to be held without bond.
01:44:54
As Murdo sat in jail, he was indicted on dozens more charges for defrauding clients out of millions of dollars.
01:45:02
And then in July of 2022, more than a year after the Grizzly murders, disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex
01:45:10
Murdo was indicted today in the high-profile murders of his wife and son last year.
01:45:15
>> Alec Murdo was charged with killing his wife Maggie and son Paul. Maggie's friends were relieved that the case was
01:45:23
moving forward. >> I was kind of like, now finally, and maybe we're going to get some answers.
01:45:41
[Music] Alex Murda, >> why did you kill your wife and your son? >> On January 25th, 2023,
01:45:51
19 months after Maggie and Paul were gunned down near the dog kennels at their family hunting estate,
01:45:57
>> that the defendant, Alec Murdoch, over there told anyone who would listen that
01:46:03
he was never at those kennels. Prosecutor Kraton Waters began laying out the state's case against Alec Murd.
01:46:11
>> But the evidence is also going to show from these things that every one of us,
01:46:15
most of us carry around in our pocket that he was there. He was at the murder scene with the two victims.
01:46:23
>> I could see Mr. Murdo down at the end of the driveway. >> Central 717 scene has secured both
01:46:28
gunshot wounds to the head. >> First responders described the harrowing scene captured by their body cams. The
01:46:35
male victim was close to a small shed in the dog kennel on the left. There was a
01:46:40
large deal of blood that had pulled around his body. >> Turn around for me. >> I don't have anything.
01:46:44
>> Okay. Yes, sir. I see that. Okay. This is your wife and son. >> That's official that they're dead.
01:46:50
>> Yes, sir. That's what it looks like. >> Investigators interviewed Myrtle in a
01:46:56
patrol car. >> My my boy over there. I could see it was My doll said he spent time with Paul
01:47:10
earlier in the evening riding around the property. After Maggie got home, he dozed off on the couch and when he got
01:47:17
up, there was nobody around. >> I called Maggie, didn't get an answer. Maggie's a dog
01:47:24
lover, and I knew she'd gone to the kennel. I left to go to my mom's. My mom's a late stage Alzheimer's patient.
01:47:34
>> His visit with his ill mother would become his alibi. Murdal told investigators when he returned around 10
01:47:40
p.m. there was still no one home, so he drove down to the dog kennels. That's when he found Maggie and Paul.
01:47:48
>> I tried to turn Paul over first. Then I went to my wife and I I mean I could see
01:47:57
>> Mhm. I touched them both. Okay. >> I tried to take their pulse on both of them.
01:48:05
>> When you first saw Paul, you said you tried to >> Detective Rutland interviewed Alec
01:48:10
Myrtle that night and told the jurors. She noted despite his claim of touching the blood soaked bodies of his wife and
01:48:16
son, he appeared clean. >> How would you describe the defendant's hands when you saw them?
01:48:23
>> They were clean. >> How would you describe his t-shirt? >> Clean. >> Did those clothes appeared to be fresh.
01:48:30
>> They did >> like they just come out of the laundry. >> They could be. >> Maggie and Paul died from multiple
01:48:37
gunshot wounds. Daily Beast senior national reporter Polar Melendez shared the investigator's findings.
01:48:44
>> So Paul was shot first and he was shot twice with a shotgun. Paul was found here next to the feeding room very close
01:48:51
by. Right here is where Maggie was found. Maggie was killed with a 300 blackout rifle and suffered five gunshot wounds.
01:49:01
A crime scene specialist described her final moments. >> The shooter was right here. The second
01:49:07
shot was not as close, but it still wasn't a long distance. It was approximately here into the crown
01:49:15
of the head. 3 days after the murders, building their timeline, investigators talked to Alec
01:49:23
Myrtle again. >> We sat down. We ate supper and we hung around the house for a little while. Uh
01:49:29
I know that Maggie went to the kennels. Um I don't know exactly where Paul went,
01:49:35
but he left the house, too. I stayed in the house and I actually fell asleep on the couch.
01:49:40
>> The last time that you saw Paul and Maggie when y'all were eating supper? >> Yes, sir.
01:49:53
The Murdals were avid hunters and had more than 25 weapons on the property. >> I saw one over here.
01:50:00
>> During a search, >> there's one to your right. >> Sled agents found spent shell casings.
01:50:05
>> Yeah. 300. Yep. >> Yeah. >> And ammunition that matched the bullets that killed Maggie and Paul, but the
01:50:11
murder weapons were never found. Maggie's cell phone was also missing the day after the murders. Investigators
01:50:18
found it here on the side of the road half a mile from the property. Sled analyzed the data from Alex, Maggie, and
01:50:25
Paul's cell phones. At 7:56 p.m., Paul sent this Snapchat video of his dad to a friend. Paul is
01:50:34
heard laughing in the background. It's better than it was. >> So around 8:30, Paul's phone starts
01:50:42
moving towards the dog kennels. He also calling and texting two friends. Then responding to Snapchats until about 8:40
01:50:50
when he gets on a 4-minute phone call with his friend Rogan Gibson. >> Rogan Gibson told investigators their
01:50:57
phone call was about his dog who was staying at the kennels. Rogan thought he heard Alec in the background. That
01:51:04
immediately sets a red flag for law enforcement because that totally messes up Alec's timeline. And how could he be
01:51:10
at the dog at 8:40 when he claims he was sleeping? >> Responding units to Mosel Road.
01:51:16
>> Two months after the murders, agents interviewed Alec Murd, this time at a sled office. They asked him if he went
01:51:23
down to the kennels that night. >> I've got information that you were heard in the background. Wasn't you?
01:51:30
>> No, sir. Not if my times are right. >> Think you think it could? >> I have no idea.
01:51:37
>> In November of 2022, there was a breakthrough in the investigation. >> Get back. Get back.
01:51:43
>> Agent showed Rogan a video of his dog Cash that they had found on Paul's phone. Paul had shot it at 8:44 p.m.
01:51:52
minutes before he was killed. >> It's a guinea. >> There's a chicken. Come here, [ __ ] And what voices did
01:52:00
you hear? >> Paul's miss Maggie. Miss Ellie. >> And how sure are you now? >> Positive.
01:52:06
>> 100%. >> That's correct. >> The prosecutor says Alec is heard saying, "Come here, Bubba." Calling the
01:52:13
family dog. >> Come here, kid. >> This is a huge piece of testimony because it places Alec in the kennel
01:52:21
roughly 5 minutes before prosecutors say Maggie and Paul were murdered. Authorities believed Maggie and Paul
01:52:28
were shot around 8:49 p.m. when their phone screens were locked and never opened again. The prosecutor asked
01:52:36
several other witnesses if they recognized Murdall's voice >> on that video. >> And I recognize Ella.
01:52:44
>> Who do you recognize? >> Alec. >> Did you recognize >> on that video? Alex Myrtle.
01:52:50
>> And every single witness has said with 100% certainty that that's Alec in the
01:52:55
background of that video. And it also completely shatters his alibi. >> Alec Murdo's car and cell phone data
01:53:02
showed he drove to his mom's house shortly after 900 p.m. Between then and until he returned and dialed 911 at
01:53:10
10:06 p.m., he made 10 calls to family and friends, including five to Maggie. Prosecutors basically alleged that after
01:53:19
killing Paula Maggie took steps to cover up and show that he is talking to all these people. So how could he murder his
01:53:26
his wife and son? >> As to the motive, the state had a theory that a perfect storm was gathering for
01:53:34
Alec Murd. >> Alec was scared about information coming out that he had been stealing money from
01:53:41
his clients and his law firm for years. On the day of the murders, Murdall was confronted by his firm about missing
01:53:50
legal fees of almost $800,000. Also that week, he was due in court for a hearing on the boat crash civil case.
01:53:58
Murdall was being sued for $10 million by Mallalerie Beach's family. But the prosecution is alleging that in order to
01:54:07
dissuade further questions about his financial crimes and garner sympathy from the community and his law firm, he
01:54:13
killed his wife and son. It's the actions of a desperate man. >> The state would call Jeannie Secure.
01:54:21
>> After the judge ruled Myall's alleged financial schemes could be brought in, the state called the firm CFO Jeanie
01:54:28
Secure. >> Was anybody at all concerned about those missing fees after those murders
01:54:34
happened? >> We weren't because we were concerned about LA and we weren't going to go in
01:54:38
there and harass him about money when his family had been killed. Uh, Mr. Tinsley.
01:54:47
>> The Beach family's attorney, Mark Tinsley, also testified and told the jurors in the wake of the murders, the
01:54:53
civil case against Alec Murdoch, would have gone away. >> If Alec is the victim of a vigilante,
01:55:01
nobody's going to hold him accountable. The case would be over. >> As the state rested its case, Alec
01:55:08
Mydall made the risky decision to take the stand. You lied to Maggie, didn't you?
01:55:15
>> I did lie to Maggie. [Music] >> Have you made a decision as to whether you're going to testify?
01:55:35
>> I am going to testify. I want to testify. >> Against his attorney's advice, Alec Murd
01:55:43
decided to take the stand in his own defense. You swear affirm that the testimony you give today will be the
01:55:49
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Under questioning by attorney Jim
01:55:54
Griffin, Murdall is hoping the jury will look past his lies and believe that now
01:56:00
he's telling them the truth. >> Did you kill Maggie? No, I did not kill Maggie. I did not
01:56:08
kill Paul. I would never hurt Maggie and I would never hurt Paul ever under any circumstances.
01:56:17
After all the testimony identifying him on that kennel video, >> is forced to admit he was with his wife
01:56:25
and son minutes before prosecutors say they were gunned down. Were you in fact at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night
01:56:33
Maggie and Paul were murdered? >> I was. >> Come here, bottle. Come here, Cash. >> Come here, b cash.
01:56:38
>> You continued lying after that night, did you not? >> But once I lied, I continued to lie.
01:56:45
Yes, sir. >> Why? >> Oh, what a tangled web we weave. But once I told the lie, I mean, I told my family. I
01:56:56
I had to keep lying. I went to >> Murdoch claims he'd been compelled to lie because of an opioid addiction he
01:57:04
battled for 20 years, spending tens of thousands of dollars a week and taking up to 60 or more pills per day.
01:57:12
>> As my addiction evolved over time, I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid
01:57:23
thinking. but he dismisses the prosecution's theory of mounting pressure from his addiction and alleged
01:57:30
financial crimes leading up to the murders. >> Mr. Murdoch, on June the 7th, did you
01:57:36
believe that your financial house of cards was about to crumble? >> Absolutely not. Mr. Murdo, I'll start
01:57:42
with a few things I think we can agree. >> During a 6-hour cross-examination over
01:57:46
two days, prosecutorraton Waters grills Murd. >> And you stole all of the money, didn't
01:57:51
you? about his long history of lying to his financial victims. >> And Mr. Waters, just to try to get
01:57:57
through this quicker, >> I admit >> I know you want to get through it quicker, but we're not. So, answer the
01:58:02
question, please. >> What what what I what I admit is that I misled them, I did wrong, and that I
01:58:09
stole their money. >> Waters contends it was only because he'd been caught in his lie about being at
01:58:15
the kennels that Murdo finally came clean. The reality is you, like you've done so many times over the course of
01:58:22
your life, had to back up and make a new story that kind of fit with the facts that can't be denied. Isn't that true,
01:58:28
sir? >> No, sir. That's not true. >> Waters then tries to box him into his new timeline on the night of the
01:58:34
murders, zeroing in on 4 minutes between 9:02 and 9:06 when his phone logged 283
01:58:43
steps right before he left to visit his mom. That's far more steps in a shorter time period than than any time prior as
01:58:51
you've seen from the testimony in this case. So, what what were you so busy doing? Going to the bathroom?
01:58:55
>> No, I don't I don't think that I >> get on a treadmill. >> To the bathroom? No, I didn't get on a
01:58:59
treadmill. >> Jog in place? >> No, I didn't jog in place. >> No, sir. I did not do jumping jacks.
01:59:06
>> Tell you that. >> Murdall reasserts his theory of the murders. >> That I believe that boat wreck
01:59:13
is the reason why Paula and Maggie were killed. cuz I can tell you for a fact that the person or people
01:59:21
who did what I saw on June the 7th, they hated Paul Murd and they had anger in their
01:59:33
heart. Throughout the trial, the defense makes the case that Alec Murdo was a devoted
01:59:39
family man. His son, Buster, describes a dad who'd coached his little league teams and was now stricken with grief.
01:59:46
>> I mean, he was destroyed. He's heartbroken. I walked in the door and saw him and
01:59:52
um gave him a hug and just just broken down. >> Defense calls Tim Palbot to the stand,
02:00:00
please. The defense calls a crime scene analyst who based on blood spatter, position of shots fired, and the fact
02:00:07
that two different guns were used, says there was more than one shooter. >> My opinion is the totality of the
02:00:13
evidence is more suggestive of a two shooter scenario. >> The prosecution disagrees
02:00:19
>> him. This is Alec, the prosecutor, the lawyer, and he's thinking through this.
02:00:22
He's thought through this. He's going to use two guns because it's going to confuse people that perhaps there were
02:00:27
two shooters. In his closing to the jury, Waters argues that all the evidence points to Alec Murd
02:00:35
from that first shot at close range shot with no indication that he detected a threat from the person who fired that
02:00:42
weapon. And why? Cuz it was him. Maggie sees what happens. And she comes running
02:00:47
over there. She's running to her baby. She got mowed down by the only person that we have conclusive proof was at
02:00:57
that scene just minutes before and who lied about that very fact. >> And he describes how Murdoch could have
02:01:06
cleaned up at the kennels afterwards. It wouldn't take long to strip down and wash yourself off,
02:01:15
get in that cart, and head back to the house. Here we are with a Mr. Clean theory. He takes a hose and washes
02:01:25
himself off and gets in a golf cart, butt naked, I guess, and drives to the house.
02:01:32
>> Defense attorney Jim Griffin pushes back on the prosecution's theory. He would
02:01:37
have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear. The shooter's covered in blood. The shooter's gun is
02:01:44
covered in blood. Common sense thing here is there were two shooters. >> Instead, said Griffin, investigators
02:01:51
zeroed in on Mydall to the exclusion of other suspects because he was an easy target.
02:01:58
>> Longtime drug problem, his financial issues, misconduct were exposed. Easy. Easy,
02:02:07
easy target for Sled. The evidence is crystal clear. He started fabricating evidence against Alec.
02:02:16
>> Griffin tells the jury Sled also presented false evidence to the grand jury when seeking an indictment against
02:02:23
Myrtle. >> They came up with a report that says Alex Tisher had high velocity blood
02:02:29
spatter on there. The lead sled agent testified he had not received an email update that further testing had shown
02:02:37
there was no blood. >> I did not see that report. I was not made aware of its existence. Sled failed
02:02:43
miserably in investigating this case. And had they done a competent job that Alec would have been excluded year ago.
02:02:54
>> Then he addresses the single most problematic piece of evidence for the defense. Really, we're back to the lie.
02:03:02
Cuz that's all they have in this case. He lied because he had a closet full of skeletons. But when he didn't lie, when
02:03:08
he didn't lie for is because he was covering up the fact that he killed Maggie and Paul. Alec would not have
02:03:15
killed the people he loved the most in the world. This defendant has fooled everyone.
02:03:23
Everyone. And he fooled Maggie and Paul, too. and they paid for it with their lives.
02:03:34
Don't let him fool you, too. >> After hearing from 75 witnesses in more than 5 weeks, the jury deliberates for
02:03:44
just under 3 hours before returning with a verdict. >> The state versus Richard Alexander
02:03:49
Murdoch defend. >> Murdall is found guilty of murdering his wife and son. >> Guilty verdict. We understand there is a
02:03:57
verdict in the double murder trial. >> At sentencing the next day, Judge Clifton Newman gives Murd one last
02:04:04
chance to appeal to the court. >> I respect this court, but I'm innocent. >> Unmoved, Judge Newman sentences him to
02:04:13
two consecutive life terms in prison. >> And I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the night times when
02:04:20
you're attempting to go to sleep. I'm sure they come and visit you. I can't stop thinking about the fact
02:04:27
that it is a video on Paul's own phone that really >> was critical in this case.
02:04:34
>> Well, I think it is ironic. In a murder case, the victims can't testify. Um, but in many ways they do.
02:04:42
Often times they leave something behind that lets you know what happened to him.
02:04:46
And in this case, it was Paul's video. Come here, Bob. Come here, Cash. Come here, Bob. Catch.
02:04:52
>> It's Paul testifying from the grave. [Music] 48 hours. To miss it would be a crime.
02:05:05
>> Were you at all prepared for what happened in this case? [Music] [Applause] [Music]
02:05:32
[Applause] [Music]